Insane killer and fair escapee arrested near Goldendale

An insane killer who escaped from authorities during a trip to a county fair has been arrested this evening after four days on the run.

Phillip Arnold Paul, 47, was arrested near Goldendale, a town in southeast Washington near the Oregon border. Authorities have said that they believed that Paul was heading to Sunnyside, where his family lives.

Spokane County sheriff's Capt. Dave Reagan told The Associated Press that Paul was nabbed by Deputy Roger Knight — the same deputy who arrested and was injured by Paul after an escape in 1991.

Paul was committed to Eastern State Hospital after he was acquitted by reason of insanity in the 1987 slaying of an elderly woman, whose body he soaked in gasoline to throw off search dogs. He is diagnosed with schizophrenia.

In the days since Paul went missing from the Spokane County International Fair dozens of federal, state and local law enforcement officers were reassigned from Spokane to track him.

In 1991, Paul escaped during a day trip and was captured 15 miles away. He subsequently attacked a sheriff's deputy in the jail booking area, knocking him unconscious and separating his shoulder, and was convicted of first-degree escape and second-degree assault.